


Ship of Theseus

by KivaEmber



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Dubious Morality, Goro is raised in the Metaverse: the fic, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Metaverse (Persona 5), No Detective Prince, Persona 5: The Royal, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29965008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KivaEmber/pseuds/KivaEmber
Summary: “Why do you say he’s ‘like me’?” he asked quietly, “This could just be a very clever human-shaped Shadow. There are loads of them topside.”“He uses Persona,” Jose said, “Just like you.”or;Goro stumbles into the Metaverse as a child and never leaves. This changes several things.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 82
Kudos: 459





	1. Prologue

**2006 - METAVERSE**

Jose could hear a strange noise. 

He lifted his head from where he had it half-buried into his cart, pausing to listen past the rasping wind of this growing cognitive space. Mementos was still quite new; a tiny little puddle of human cognitive thought that was rapidly swelling into a lake, so strange noises weren’t actually, well,  _ strange. _ Things shifted or spawned in response to the large influx of emotions and thoughts filling it up. 

But this was  _ different. _

Jose hummed and ambled away from his cart. It wasn’t far, just around the tight bend he parked next to. He peered cautiously around it - because new or not, Mementos still had  _ Shadows, _ and they were ornery on a good day - and blinked when he saw a shape- no,  _ someone, _ curled up on the railway tracks, sniffling and hiccuping. 

Was that… a human? 

A very small human - not that much bigger than Jose, from the looks of it! He was intrigued and concerned. This was no place for a small human, he was sure. 

He doubled back for his cart, let the engine purr awake, and for once exerted restraint in driving it. He trundled slowly around the sharp bend, pulling to a stop next to the possible human who was now standing up and looking very alarmed, if he was reading those wide-eyes and that pale face correctly.

Jose was still new himself, and still learning much about humans - but he knew enough to put a friendly foot forwards. 

“Hello!” Jose greeted, climbing out of his cart. The small human took a wary step backwards, “I’m Jose. Are you a human?”

The small human blinked several times at him, tightly gripping their bag straps. Their hair was messy and down their shoulders, not at all hard and pale like Jose’s own, their eyes were red-rimmed and damp, and one of their cheeks was dark and swollen - which probably wasn’t normal for a human. It looked painful. 

Jose hummed when he didn’t get a reply - the human looked too confused or wary to do anything - and made a point of looking about himself. There was no obvious ‘hole’ that he could see where the human must’ve tumbled through. How strange. 

“Are you lost?” Jose tried again. 

That stirred the human out of their blank staring. Their expression shuttered, and they shifted their weight as if contemplating in bolting. Thankfully they didn’t, because Jose was worried the first hostile Shadow they’d run into would turn them into a red smear, and instead said, in a very quiet, scratchy voice; “No, I’m running away.”

Jose tilted his head, “Running away?”

The small human nodded solemnly, but their eyes were darting about. They were clearly lost, even if they were ‘running away’. 

Jose thought for a moment. Mementos was no place for a small human, and he still wasn’t sure where this place linked up to the human world, so it was up to him to take this human to a place of safety, wasn’t it? It was also a chance for a learning experience! Jose was learning so much about humans in this place, true, but he had a real live human standing right in front of him! He could learn a lot. 

“Well, this place is a little dangerous for a human to walk about in,” Jose said, and pointed at his cart, “How about I take you somewhere nicer? It’s aboveground!”

The small human wavered, visibly tempted, but something made them hold back. They gazed at Jose, assessing and wary, and Jose just smiled back at them, demonstrating absolutely no ill-will. Eventually, the small human nodded a fraction, something like relief in their eyes. 

“Great! Climb on in- oh, let me move this, ahaha, sorry, it’s a bit of a mess- there we go!”

The both of them now bundled into his cart, Jose let loose. The railway tracks thumped beneath his racing wheels, the wind whistled against his face, cold and losing that strained, screechy edge to it, and Jose made for the sky. Mementos was only a few floors deep, so it took very little time to drive his cart to the entrance.

“I’ll have to leave my cart here,” Jose says apologetically, climbing out the driver’s seat, “But we can walk the rest of the way- oh, are you okay?”

The small human nodded queasily as they climbed out of the cart on very shaky legs. Jose made a mental note that humans could actually go  _ grey. _ Interesting!

“Let’s go!” Jose said, thinking a bit of fresh air and a walk would do the small human good. Reluctantly, the small human followed him up the stairs of Mementos, and into the dull, dreary world of the Metaverse. It, he supposed, was a mirror of the human world - but it looked so washed out! The sky was a dull, angry purple, the towering buildings a monotone grey that stretched impossibly high, and the wide, open space Mementos exited out into was unnervingly empty. It honestly spooked Jose. 

The small human looked spooked too. 

“Where is everyone?” the small human asked. 

“You mean other humans?” Jose asked, “I think it’s just you - unless more fell in here. This is the Metaverse, so it’s usually only Shadows here.”

The small human just looked confused. 

Jose got an idea. While not humans, Shadows were very good at imitating them - maybe he should bring the small human over to them! It might put them at ease. Nodding decisively at his decision, Jose put aside his usual reluctance to venture deeper into the Metaverse and strode confidently in a random direction. The small human scurried to keep up, almost treading on his heels. 

“You, um,” the small human began, “You’re Jose?”

Jose beamed, “Yup!”

“...I’m Akechi,” the small human said, “Goro Akechi.”

“Nice to meet you- um, should I use Goro or Akechi? Or both?”

The small human, Goro, looked a little startled and shook their head - then nodded. It was very confusing, “Just- Goro’s fine. I guess. Um.” 

Goro fell quiet. Jose hummed thoughtfully. 

They hit one of the streets, and the first signs of life appeared at long last. Shadows ambled around - most were featureless, just the background concept of a crowd to give noise and movement to a well-known location. But a few looked like  _ people, _ notably those manning the ‘shops’. Jose had curiously poked at them a few times, but the things they sold were very confusing. Their shops reflected the cognition of their customers, after all. 

Goro looked overwhelmed. They were staring at the featureless crowd aimlessly moving around them, their eyebrows drawn together. They were clutching his bag straps so tight their knuckles were almost white. 

“Those are Shadows,” Jose said helpfully, “They like imitating humans doing their thing. These are just ‘crowd Shadows’, though, so they’re mostly there for atmosphere… oh, this one’s a shopkeeper! They can talk, see!”

Goro’s visible bewilderment only deepened as Jose nudged them towards a shopkeeper Shadow. It was a tall lady, maybe too tall for a human, with a wide, plastic smile and bright golden eyes. Her apron was pink with a cheery bunny embroidered on the bottom corner, and her hands were clasped politely in front of her. 

“Welcome!” the Shopkeeper Shadow trilled, “How may I help you today, valued customer?”

Goro froze, blinking rapidly. 

“Oh my, what a terrible bruise!” the Shopkeeper Shadow continued, apparently not needing any input from Goro. She leaned down - Goro shrank back - and studied their face for a moment before nodding and straightening up. “I have just the thing to save a cute little face like that.”

She procured a small stone out of nowhere - a Life Stone - and held it out with a pleased trill of; “¥755, please.”

That jolted Goro out of his staring, and on automatic they patted at their coat’s pockets. Jose watched avidly, taking in this exchange as the small human paid for their purchase, completing an important social ritual when the Shopkeeper Shadow dropped the Life Stone into Goro’s waiting palm. She bid them good day, and Goro quickly walked away to put some distance between them. 

“What did I buy?” Goro asked, sounding hopelessly lost, “Jose?”

“A Life Stone,” Jose said, keeping to himself that Goro paid far too much for something that you could practically find on the ground, “It can heal injuries. Let me show you.”

Jose took the stone and held it close to Goro’s bruised cheek. The stone flashed then melted into fine dust that sprinkled over the injury, and slowly the swelling and bruising went down until Goro’s cheek was only faintly pink. Not completely healed, but enough that it shouldn’t hurt as much anymore. 

“See!” Jose said cheerfully. 

Goro touched their cheek in wonder, and for the first time that dark, wary look in their eyes gave way to  _ wonder. _ They looked about themselves in heightened interest, then focused on Jose again as they asked in a hushed voice, “Are- are you  _ spirits?” _

Jose tilted his head. Well, in a manner of speaking… “Um, yes? Kind of?”

Goro seemed quite pleased to be amongst spirits for some reason. Or maybe relieved. Jose was a bit confused, but he was just happy that Goro didn’t seem so glum anymore. It looked like his decision to take Goro out for a walk in the Metaverse was a good idea. Maybe showing them more would make them happier?

“There’s more to see,” Jose said, and gestured for Goro to follow. The small human did so happily, “And some stuff to warn you about if you’re going to stay. Are you staying?”

_ “Yes,” _ Goro said with such vehemence it startled Jose. There was a hard look in the small human’s eyes, a deep, bitter darkness that left Jose curious. What could have happened to chase a human into this puddle of human cognition and not wish to return to their real home…?

Well, Jose had time to figure it out, he supposed. For now, he’ll help them out. It was sure to be a good learning experience! 

* * *

**2016 - METAVERSE**

* * *

_ “WE’VE FOUND YOU, INMATE!” _

Goro almost jolted out of the tree he had been resting in, scrambling comically before catching himself at the last minute. Bright red and pink leaves fluttered free and flew away as butterflies as he poked his head out of his hiding space with well-experienced wariness. 

“Ah,” he said when he spotted a snarling Caroline prowling the base of his tree like a hungry predator, “Good morning, Caroline.”

“It’s the afternoon!” Caroline raged, smacking her baton against the tree, “And you’re  _ LATE!” _

“By two years, two months and two days,” the softer voice of Justine piped up. Goro shifted his gaze to see Justine loitering near the gate of the garden, clutching that thick tome he had come to fear more than Caroline’s flailing baton, “This avoidance of your rehabilitation will only serve to extend your sentence, Inmate.”

“Hmph!” Caroline whacked the tree one more time and glared up at Goro with her hands on her hips, “It’s  _ inconsiderate, _ is what it is! Me and Justine are  _ very busy-” _

Goro snorted in disbelief. 

_ “-and _ we have a  _ new _ prisoner to worry about too!” Caroline brandished her baton, “We can’t waste time chasing you down for much longer, Inmate!”

Goro perked up at that, “Does that mean you’ll stop chasing m-”

_ “NEVER!” _

Well, worth a shot. 

“As I’ve told you two before, and will keep telling you,” Goro said loftily, “I have never committed a crime in my life. I’m innocent of all and any wrongdoing-”

Caroline made a noise like an over boiling tea kettle. Goro hid a grin - riling Caroline up never got old, even if his shins ached something fierce whenever she managed to get the jump on him. Despite having the body of a child, Caroline’s arm strength was terrifying to behold. 

“Inmate,” Justine wandered over, hugging her tome to her chest as she gazed up at him imploringly, “Surely you are tired of evading us for so long? All we wish is to help you-”

Goro stopped listening. He heard this spiel from his bizarre stalkers multiple times over the past two years - which he only knew as Justine was very precise in telling him how many days it had been since he had first encountered them - and it was getting very tiring now. As much as he enjoyed the entertainment value of the comedic Caroline and Justine duo, it was beginning to get a little stale and obtrusive now. 

He had been  _ sleeping, _ damn it. 

“Yes, well, I have things to do, places to be,” he drawled over whatever Justine had been saying, “It sounds like you have a new victim to harass, anyway. So, I better leave you to it-”

_ “DON’T YOU DARE RUN AWAY, INMATE, OR I’LL-!” _

Goro leapt out of the tree and bolted before Caroline could finish screaming her threat. His two stalkers immediately pursued, but he had the advantage of longer legs and raw determination to not get locked up. He vaulted over the garden fence, landed in next door’s garden, dodged the Cerberus guard dog, and scurried up the drain pipe like a gecko. Once he was on the roof, he mapped his escape route leaping between buildings until he found a good spot to drop back down into ground level - a back alleyway leading towards the more populated areas. 

He brushed himself off as he trotted at a languid pace into the featureless crowd of a main street - Shibuya, ah, he was near Mementos then - and let himself relax when he couldn’t hear Caroline’s dulcet tones. He had evaded them yet again. 

The Shadows were sluggish today, the air humid and sticky hot. Goro took advantage of their grogginess to admire their wares - today, Shopkeeper Shadow was selling some interesting cold drinks and foods alongside some pretty gems. Goro had no use for gems, but sometimes they looked nice and could be used for negotiating with more even-tempered Shadows, so he bought a watermelon ice cream and a few choice stones of varying colours before moving on his way. 

“Another busy day,” Goro mused to himself, pausing to admire his reflection in a nearby store front. His hair was getting too shaggy and long, reaching past his shoulders - he’ll have to ask Jose to cut it again, who, thankfully, had gotten very good at being a pseudo-hairdresser over the past few years. He raked his free hand through his hair, tugging a few leaves and twigs out of where they had gotten tangled. Yes, it’s definitely too long now. 

He also hoped he will stop growing in body, too. Getting new clothes in this place was  _ expensive, _ or required raiding Palaces which was always a mixed bag, and required Jose to use his cognitive magic to adjust them accordingly. Goro studied his face, noting the mature cut of his jaw and the lingering puppy fat in his cheeks, and wondered why  _ he _ continued to grow up when Jose, Caroline and Justine remained the same. 

_ It’s not fair, _ he grumbled, puffing his cheeks out at his reflection before turning away,  _ they never have to worry about outgrowing their clothes. _

He left the busy streets of Shibuya behind and strolled towards Mementos. He finished his ice cream by the time he reached the gloomy entrance and stealthily crept down them. The bright blue door was there, as per usual, radiating  _ ill will, _ and Goro skirted it as much as possible. Luckily Caroline and Justine weren’t there - probably still looking for him back in the Metaverse. 

He breathed much more easily once he was inside Mementos proper, and whistled idly to himself as he hunted down Jose. 

He didn’t know why Jose hung out here to ‘learn about humans’ when the Metaverse did a good enough job imitating it, but he didn’t question it much. Personally Goro felt like Jose just enjoyed speeding around the twisting tunnels of Mementos - something he wouldn’t get away with topside, as the Police Shadows cracked down on traffic violations (something he had learned painfully when he had stolen a Shadow’s motorbike on an impulsive whim). 

“Jose!” he called, his voice echoing down the cavernous tunnels of Mementos. A few shambling Shadows lifted their heads at his shout, but they were too groggy and slow-witted to react as he slipped past them. They were small fry anyway, barely worth his time to steamroll. 

“Jose!” he called again, and perked when he heard a far away answer. He broke into a loping run, ducking and weaving past a few more Shadows and turning a sharp bend to find Jose nestled in a cosy looking deadend, his cart overburdened with bits and bobs he picked up inside Mementos, his little starry tarp stretched out for the day. 

“Goro!” Jose greeted with a happy wave of his hand. He was sipping Flower Juice, something Goro had tried once - and only the once. 

“I see you’ve found more flowers,” Goro noted.

“There’s been a lot of them recently,” Jose said agreeably, finishing his drink and letting the remains of the flowers disperse into the air,  _ “And _ I found someone to help me!”

Goro tilted his head at that. The Shadows of Mementos demonstrated little interest in Jose and his flower-hunting quest - in fact, the Shadows of Mementos gave Goro the creeps, which was why he barely spent any time here. They were usually so depressed and apathetic, and if not that then they were always super pissed off about something. It was too much of a hassle to deal with. 

“Really?” Goro asked curiously, “Who? It can’t be a Shadow.”

“Nope, it’s a Mister,” Jose said, hopping off his cart, “Hmm, in fact, he looks a little like you.”

Goro frowned. There was never anyone ‘like him’. He was a unique category amongst the shifting, morphing population of Shadows, and he wasn’t like Jose, or Caroline and Justine either - and he  _ definitely _ wasn’t any of these  _ humans _ the Shadows kept muttering about. They sounded positively monstrous and disgusting, which Goro  _ wasn’t, _ no matter what Jose insisted. 

But, another like him… as much as the thought of it rubbed him the wrong way, he was intrigued. Things had been getting boring recently 

“What’s a Mister?” he pressed, “And like me? What does that mean? Stop being mysterious, Jose.”

“I’m not being mysterious,” Jose said, leaning over the edge of his cart and procuring a notepad and pen, “Look, I’ll draw him for you.”

Goro eagerly leaned in to watch - and groaned when he remembered too late that Jose’s artistic skills were, well… 

“Ta da!” Jose held up his masterpiece, a mangled mess of lines and scribbles that arguably had four limbs and a set of eyes amongst a very… V-shaped face? Goro took the notepad and squinted at it, tilting his head this way and that to try and parse the visual puzzle. It looked… what the hell did it look like?

“He looks nothing like me!” Goro huffed in offence, brandishing the notepad about, “What the hell is this meant to be, anyways?! A walking potato!?”

“Don’t be so fussy,” Jose scolded, taking back his notepad and looking a little protective over it, “Mister isn’t a potato, he’s- hm, well, maybe I did draw him a little too short…”

Jose attempted a few more sketches - each one more deformed than the last - until Goro couldn’t take it anymore. He snatched the notepad and pencil off of Jose and curtly told him to describe ‘Mister’, sketching out an approximation of the mysterious person. His artistic skills were impeccable, must to his pride. The result of his labour was far superior and more enlightening than Jose’s earlier potatoman sketch. 

“That’s him exactly!” Jose said proudly, tapping the edge of the paper, “Wow, Goro, you’re always so good at this.”

Goro preened, his ego suitably stroked, and took a moment to scrutinise the person he drew. He looked… like Goro, he could admit. The proportions were the same, and the hair was different, but he didn’t  _ look _ like a Shadow. He was wearing a mask, though. That was a very Shadow thing to do. 

“Why do you say he’s ‘like me’?” he asked quietly, “This could just be a very clever human-shaped Shadow. There are loads of them topside.”

“He uses Persona,” Jose said, “Just like you.”

And Shadows didn’t have Persona. 

Goro mulled over this, taking this person in with new eyes. To encounter another entity like him in this strange world… 

After all these years he had accepted that he was the only one, a unique concept within this sea of human cognition. But now that was proven false. Where has this mysterious ‘Mister’ been? Goro had roamed far and wide, to the very borders of the Metaverse where it swept sharply downwards into the Expanse (a forbidden zone, Jose had told him many years ago), and had never seen a hint of him. Had he been hiding in one of the many Palaces seeded throughout the Metaverse? Been trapped somewhere?

“He wasn’t the only one either,” Jose continued with his bombshell, “There were others too.”

“Tell me what they look like,” Goro ordered, and flipped to a new page in the notepad. 

It wasn’t long until he had mugshots of these new interests. Jose had described them to the best of his ability - which was very good, as his memory recall was perfect - and even had names to attach to them! Mister was in fact ‘Joker’  _ (did that mean he was funny?), _ the slouching skull-faced one was ‘Skull’  _ (unimaginative), _ the female with the crimson bodysuit and tail was ‘Panther’  _ (didn’t panthers have black fur?), _ the lanky beanpole with a foxface was ‘Fox’  _ (unimaginative again) _ and finally, some bobble headed cat thing was ‘Morgana’  _ (pretty normal for the Metaverse). _

“Joker, Skull, Panther, Fox and Morgana,” Goro murmured, scanning each face as he said their name, committing it to memory. He felt excited. This was very new! Something to finally shake up the monotonous rut his life had tumbled into after Caroline and Justine’s stalking became stale. 

“They come round to help me collect flowers,” Jose said, easily sensing his interest, “Do you want me to call you when I see them next?”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll catch them when we cross paths,” Goro said, making a mental note to slip down into Mementos more frequently from now on, even if it meant dodging past that creepy blue door, “Thank you, Jose.” 

“No problem.”

“Oh,” Goro abruptly remembered the reason for his visit. He folded up his drawings and stuffed them carelessly into his coat pocket before turning back to Jose, “I need another haircut.”

“Already?” Jose blinked, “But I didn’t cut it that long ago.”

“It keeps getting in my eyes,” Goro grumbled, puffing at his fringe pointedly. Irritated, he tugged at the goggles that hung around his neck - a present from Jose long ago that mimicked his own - and used it as a pseudo-headband, pushing his too-long fringe out of his face. 

“I’ll go collect some flowers for you?” he offered, even though he found that an extremely boring chore. Jose taught him all about quid pro quo. It was the only way to convince him to do things, “And I’ll let you keep my hair when you cut it.” 

Jose agreed easily to that, and Goro went skulking deeper into Mementos to pick flowers. 

* * *

One flower-picking trip and a haircut later, Goro skirted past the creepy blue door of Mementos and stepped out under the dark, purple sky of the Metaverse. He also got tackled by a howling Caroline and was sent sprawling on the floor with the little beast latched around his legs like a demonic limpet. 

“We’ve got you now, Inmate!” Caroline bellowed, “Justine! Cuff ‘im!”

“You little brats! Let go of me!” Goro spat, struggling like a snared wildcat when Justine swooped out of nowhere to grasp his wrist, an opened cuff glinting in her other hand. Despite their childish forms, they were superhumanly strong! Goro had no chance of wriggling free under his own strength! 

“Please stop struggling,” Justine said tightly when Goro smacked her full on the face, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she tried to snap the cuff around his flailing arm, “We don’t wish to hurt you.”

“Well, I want to hurt  _ you!” _ Goro snarled, managing to wrest one leg free to kick Caroline in the ribs. She hissed and bit his leg through his trousers.  _ “OW! _ You fucking-!  **_LOKI!”_ **

“INMATE, DON’T YOU DARE-!”

Loki surged into being with a throaty roar and Justine wisely backed off as the Persona swooped down with a vengeance. Loki all but peeled Caroline off Goro's leg, snarling right back at her furious hissing - and promptly launched her back into Mementos like she was a baseball primed to explode. 

_ “IIIIIIIINMAAAAAAAAAaaaaate…!” _

“Caroline!” Justine gasped in horror. 

Goro didn’t hang about to see the fallout of yeeting Caroline into the abyss. He scrambled to his feet and bolted like the hounds of hell were after him - which turned out to be true, because not a split-second later he heard Justine’s quietly furious voice say;  _ “Fenrir!”  _ followed by a bellowing roar and heavy paws thundering against concrete rapidly gaining on him.

That blasted tome of hers!

Goro reached the closest streetlight and promptly scrambled up it like a monkey, narrowly avoiding the Fenrir’s snapping jaws  _ inches _ from his ass. He reached the top and peered down to see Justine calmly walking over to him, her face set like stone as her summoned Fenrir prowled a shark-like circle at the streetlight’s base. 

“Inmate,” Justine said softly, “Come down.”

“No.”

“Inmate.”

Goro ignored her, eyeing the closest streetlight. He could reach it. 

“Please stop resisting, Inmate.” 

Goro jumped the gap. 

With Justine patiently stalking him, her Fenrir in tow, Goro leapt from streetlight to streetlight until he reached the closest building. Like everything in the Metaverse, it loomed at a strange slant towards the purple sky, and he scaled it cautiously until he reached a balcony. He peered down to see that Caroline had rejoined them, furiously waving her baton and stomping her feet in a full blown tantrum. 

“Nice try, stalkers!” he jeered, confident that he was now safe. Justine could summon a flying Persona, but the distance between them was too far. Her strange Persona summoning using the book had a miniscule range, thankfully, “Better luck next time!”

_ “WE’LL CATCH YOU ONE DAY, INMATE!” _ Caroline screamed up at him, and though she was too far away to see it clearly, Goro could clearly imagine her face scrunched up and crimson with overwhelming rage. It warmed his cold, shrivelled heart,  _ “JUST YOU WAIT!” _

“Like I haven’t heard  _ that _ before,” Goro drawled, and promptly broke into the apartment attached to the balcony. 

It was fairly standard for a Metaverse apartment. It had a main living area with a TV and an attached kitchenette, and two doors leading elsewhere. Goro curiously studied mysterious stains on the walls and floors, and how the windows rippled like there were bars trying to materialise there. A human-shaped Shadow was curled up on the floor, sobbing quietly. Goro could sense the first hints of a forming Palace - just the foundations, very loose and malleable.

The whole room gave him super bad vibes. 

“Excuse me, coming through,” he said, gingerly toeing over the sobbing Shadow like it was a volatile landmine. The apartment door was locked, but it was nothing that a good kicking didn’t solve. He stepped out into a narrow hallway and grumbled when he found it sharply sweeping downwards like a ramp. Fucking Metaverse architecture. 

He broke into the opposite apartment to avoid the suspicious pit the ramp-like hallway led into. The place was completely empty with the exception of a lone human-shaped Shadow staring blankly at an inert wall-mounted TV. Goro paused on his way to the window to curiously wave his hand in front of the human-shaped Shadow’s face. It didn’t so much as blink, its face slack with dull-eyed apathy. 

This room also gave him super bad vibes. 

Uneasy, Goro left the human-shaped Shadow alone and climbed out of the window where the fire escape was. He was encountering more and more Palace-to-bes in the Metaverse, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Palaces were fun to poke around in, but they were dangerous and annoying for a reason. He didn’t need two simultaneous Palaces trying to spill over into Shibuya High Street. He liked to hang out there!

“Humans need to stop being so shitty,” he grumbled under his breath as he climbed down the fire escape, keeping an eye out for his stalkers, “They’re spilling their negative vibes all over my home. Inconsiderate. Hmph.” 

But that’s what humans did, he supposed: being inconsiderate, shitty assholes. He hadn’t yet seen a positive reflection of them here in the Metaverse, and despite Jose's optimism, he felt there was nothing worthwhile to learn about them. Who wanted to learn about such a selfish bunch of people like that? What was the point? Everything Goro heard and saw was just downright depressing.

“Ugh,” he grumbled once he was back on street level, quickly melting into the featureless crowd of Shadows, “What a  _ day. _ They’re getting too persistent, those stalkers…”

Unlike everything else in the Metaverse, Goro was beholden to such mortal vices like ‘sleep’ and ‘eating’. That meant Caroline and Justine’s slow war of stalking attrition was wearing at him a little. He shoved his hand into his pocket and withdrew the pictures he created earlier, smoothing them out to study these strange creatures Jose had met. Maybe, if he made a deal with these people… 

Safety in numbers, right? And maybe he can find out where they’ve been hiding all this time. It was rude to leave him all alone here if there were more like him out there. 

_ what if they’re humans, though? _ A little voice whispered,  _ humans are awful and scary.  _

This was true. Goro had vague memories of humans from Before: his mother, who had been the only Good Human. She had a bright smile, and brighter hair - everything else was fuzzy, but he was certain it was just as bright. Then she died because the other humans tormented her to death - something he never forgave them for - and Goro had been forced to live with evil strangers that had hurt him until he ran away. 

Ran away to  _ here, _ where there were no humans, only Shadows who  _ reflected _ them, and Jose who was kind. They were strange and unpredictable, but Goro didn’t mind them. The human-shaped Shadows were dangerous, though. Goro didn’t like them, with all the horrible things they spewed and hissed and wailed. If they were a reflection of humanity as a whole then… yikes. 

Goro’s wariness warred with his curiosity. Maybe he shouldn’t seek them out. Or maybe he should? Maybe just a peek. If he observed them from afar, then he could judge if they were safe to approach. 

Decision made, Goro put away his pictures and lengthened his strides. He needed to find a home to break into for a well-deserved nap. 


	2. The Trickster and the Escapee

Caroline was in a foul mood. 

She furiously smacked her baton against her open palm as she glowered at Mementos’s gloomy entrance, wishing she had a  _ certain someone _ here to take out her pent up aggression on. Their most notorious Inmate, the  _ Escapee, _ as Master deemed him, was beginning to grind on her last nerve now that they actually had a  _ well-behaved _ Inmate to compare him to. 

“Why can’t he be like the  _ Good Inmate?” _ she seethed to her sister. Justine hummed agreeably, “Such an ungrateful  _ brat, _ not appreciating our effort to help rehabilitate-”

“Caroline,” Justine sighed quietly, “I know.”

“Hmph!” Caroline smacked her palm once more before pacing agitatedly in front of the Velvet Room’s door. They should be out in the real world, as the  _ Good Inmate _ normally stopped off there before entering Mementos, but the  _ Bad Inmate _ had increased his visits to Mementos in recent days and Caroline refused to waste a chance in finally  _ catching _ that  _ brat. _ It would be their luck that the Bad Inmate would pass through while they were busy elsewhere. 

“He’s cutting into our time with the Good Inmate!” Caroline raged, her frustration finally bubbling over, “How are we meant to assist him in his rehabilitation if we’re distracted by the Bad Inmate!? We can’t favour one over the other!”

“It is our personal failure that the Escapee is so resistant to our help,” Justine said softly, “He believes we plan to harm him. At least, that is the impression I have.”

“We haven’t so much as broken a bone!” Caroline hissed, scandalised, “Even when it would’ve made things  _ easier!” _

Justine grimaced. 

That was the bitter truth of the matter - they had plenty of opportunities to take the Bad Inmate in, but those opportunities always required too much violence. Their Master told them to capture him  _ at any cost, _ but… well, Caroline wasn’t shy to bump and bruise their prisoners, but even she baulked at outright  _ breaking their legs _ or beating them unconscious. That would greatly damage their rehabilitation process, if the Bad Inmate felt like they were abusers, not carers. 

“Perhaps,” Justine said carefully, slowly, “We should adjust our approach.”

_ “Justine,” _ Caroline gasped, “You’re not saying-”

“Of course not,” Justine frowned at her, “But perhaps screaming insults and ambushing him from dark alleyways is only serving to push him further and further away. We should… attempt peace talks.”

_ “Peace talks,” _ Caroline wrinkled her nose in distaste, “With our  _ prisoner?” _

“Yes.”

“You give that brat an inch, and he’ll gobble up a mile!” Caroline protested, “He’ll take advantage! He’s a manipulative little-”

“Are you still angry, sister?” Justine sounded mildly amused, her mouth curving into the tiniest of smiles, “It is quite an obvious trick.”

_ “He is very convincing!” _ Caroline hissed, feeling her face flush red. 

It started almost two years ago, and it had been the closest they had ever come to capturing the Bad Inmate. She had, maybe, whacked him a little too hard in the leg - and he had  _ cried! _ Cried! With tears and everything! And Caroline had been so startled and bewildered, and worried that she had broken something… but it had been a trick! His fake tears had allowed him to squirm out of their flustered grasp and to freedom, his mocking laughter ringing in her ears...!

“He’ll never trick me again with those damn crocodile tears!” Caroline vowed viciously, “I don’t care how much he bawls! I won’t fall for it!” 

“You fell for it as recently as last week. You even apologised to him.” 

“Never again!” Caroline bellowed loudly, brandishing her baton about as if to dispel the embarrassing realisation that she was, actually, a softie when it came to crying prisoners, “Never!”

Justine sighed heavily, “Oh, Caroline…”

Caroline muttered under her breath, stomping back to her position next to the Velvet Room’s door - and not a moment too soon. A clatter of footsteps echoed down Mementos’s entrance, and Caroline snapped to attention, poised to charge forwards… only to slump in disappointment when it was the Good Inmate and his friends arriving for another day in Mementos. 

Another day  _ in _ Mementos… 

Caroline’s mind suddenly whirred with inspiration, her gaze narrowing calculatively as she weighed the pros and cons. Their Master had been very firm in telling them to keep the Trickster and the Escapee apart, but he also stated he wanted the Escapee captured  _ at any cost. _ At this rate it would be near impossible to adhere to the first order considering how frequently the Trickster and the Escapee visited Mementos, so perhaps an intentional violation of it would be necessary to achieve the second...

“Sister,” Justine warned her as the Good Inmate peeled off from his group towards them, “I know that look.”

“Then you know what I am about to do,” Caroline said.

The Good Inmate stopped in front of them, and as always time slowed to a miserable crawl outside of the small bubble that was the border of the Velvet Room. It wouldn’t do for his friends to think the Good Inmate was staring, vacant-eyed, at a wall for a solid thirty minutes, would it? So, a little bit of tweaking, a slight adjustment of the flow of time, so malleable within the human cognition, was utilised to allow their Inmate to conduct his business for as long as he needed, with only a handful of minutes passing by to the rest of his friends. 

Caroline intended to thoroughly use up that time. 

“Inmate,” she barked before the Trickster could even get a word in edgewise, “We have a task for you.” 

Justine shifted her weight, discomforted at this intentional rule-breaking, but she followed her lead, “It is an important one, but do not allow it to distract you from your own rehabilitation.”

The Good Inmate frowned a fraction, but he looked more intrigued than offended. Caroline gave him a few points for good behaviour at being willing to fulfil extracurricular activities; “A task?”

“It pains me to admit it,” Caroline said gruffly, agitatedly slapping her baton against her palm, “But you are not the only Inmate under our guidance.”

“Your Velvet Room is for you and you alone,” Justine quickly interjected, “For you are our most dangerous prisoner. However, there is another who we tend to…”

“For over two years we’ve been in charge of his rehabilitation,” Caroline continued, “And the ungrateful beast has resisted us at every turn! He never stays in one place, he escapes, he runs away, he  _ tricks us _ and one time he even-!”

“He is a cunning prisoner,” Justine spoke over her, “And a powerful Persona user. His rehabilitation has been slow in comparison to yours, due to his… reluctance to engage in his recovery.” 

The Trickster absorbed this slowly, his posture relaxed into a slouching huddle. Caroline gritted her teeth to bite back the urge to smack his spine until he straightened up. Didn’t he realise how much damage he is doing to himself with such a shoddy posture!?

Caroline mentally took away the points she gave him earlier. 

“Does he have a black mask?” The Good Inmate asked slowly. 

Caroline and Justine looked at each other in confusion. While the Escapee  _ did _ wear disguises from time to time to evade them during their more prolonged chases, he never wore a mask like the Phantom Thieves. From what they understood, the Bad Inmate’s method of Persona summoning functioned differently to the Good Inmate’s. No mask required. 

“He wears black, but not a mask,” Caroline slapped her baton once more into her palm, “Justine, his mugshot, if you will.”

“It is… slightly out of date by two years,” Justine said apologetically, slipping a photograph out of her book. She held it out and the Good Inmate took it, scrutinising the Escapee’s mugshot. 

It wasn’t anything special. It was a candid shot of the Bad Inmate - Caroline couldn’t recall when or who took it - thankfully catching his entire face. The only difference between Photo Escapee and Current Escapee was that he was a little  _ cuter _ in the photograph - more soft-looking and sweet, which was why Caroline had fallen for his fake tears! Now age had sharpened those features into something more mature and dangerous, meaning his crocodile tears had less impact (or so she told herself). 

“He looks young,” the Good Inmate said contemplatively. 

Caroline honestly had no idea how old the Bad Inmate was, and replied tartly; “Of course he does, he’s a  _ brat.” _

“He enjoys his tricks,” Justine confirmed, “He is silver-tongued and manipulative, reliant on using his wit to escape unpleasant situations. His Persona fits him well.”

The Good Inmate cocked his head curiously, and Caroline answered; “Loki.” 

“Huh,” the Good Inmate looked once more at the photo and held it up slightly, “Can I keep this for reference?”

Justine hesitated before nodding.

“Now, this task,” Caroline steered the conversation back on track, “Is to encourage him to engage in his rehabilitation. Since he’s so opposed to being under our tender mercies, that means you’ll be acting as our proxy, Inmate.”

“What does his rehabilitation entail?” the Good Inmate asked, “Forming bonds?”

“Strengthening the heart,” Justine confirmed, “As it stands, the only bond he has is with one other.”

“Some ‘Jose’,” Caroline snorted. The book Justine carried contained all the information for those holding a contract with their Velvet Room, and the Bad Inmate - despite never setting foot in there - had somehow signed a contract. His singular bond was powerful and entrenched, but it was still only one single bond. 

Recognition flashed in the Trickster’s eyes, “The egg boy…”

“Forging a bond with the Escapee may be the best way to assist him with his rehabilitation,” Justine said, “It will further your own recovery as well.”

“Two birds, one stone,” Caroline harrumphed, “But remember, you’ll be representing us when you deal with the Escapee, so don’t embarrass us! And don’t fall for his tricks either! He’s annoyingly  _ crafty.” _

“Stay vigilant,” Justine added with a smile. 

The Good Inmate nodded, “Got it. I’ll try to make friends. Where can I find him?”

“Oh, he’s  _ around,” _ Caroline said scathingly, “His trips to Mementos have increased recently, so maybe you’ll bump into him there.” 

The Trickster did not ask how they could repeatedly fail to capture someone who was required to pass their door to enter Mementos, and simply nodded. He gazed at the photograph in his hand before slotting it neatly into his coat pocket. 

Caroline flashed Justine a proud smirk. There. 

Let’s see the Escapee try to evade his rehabilitation now. 

* * *

It seemed the Metaverse wasn’t as secret as Akira thought. 

Today’s targets were fairly easy and straightforward, mostly on the upper levels of Mementos, so he allowed himself to mull over the ‘task’ his twin wardens have given him. Why hadn’t this other ‘inmate’ ever been mentioned before by Igor or the wardens? Why was it only now? If he was called ‘the Escapee’, did that mean he was the previous occupant of Akira’s cell? Was Akira his replacement? Or was there something else going on? Who  _ was _ this person?

More importantly… was the Escapee this mysterious Black Mask Madarame spoke about?

Akira drummed his fingers on Mona’s steering wheel, only paying enough attention to the ‘road’ to avoid driving headlong into a wall or a Shadow. It was an intriguing mystery, one he itched to solve… and his best lead was Jose himself. 

“Hey,” Akira said, “You guys want to go flower picking?”

“For egg boy?” Ryuji asked. 

“Oh, that’s right, we are running low on some powerful healing items,” Ann mused, “I don’t see why not. Sure!”

Yusuke mumbled something affirmative, his gaze glued to the window. He was sketching, but Akira could see the edge of frustration in his movement and eyes. Looked like he was still fighting off that art block. 

Yeah, a walk would do everyone some good. 

They debussed on the same floor as their target, deciding to take the slow, meandering path towards them. There was no rush, and after spending all day in the TV station getting used as free labour, Akira wanted to stretch his legs out and vent on a few ambling Shadows. He also wanted more money to cover the ingredients for their hotpot celebration tomorrow - and to make some leftovers for Yusuke to take home afterwards. 

_ i need to figure something out about that, _ Akira thought with a frown,  _ either help him with his food budgeting or- _

A hostile Shadow leapt out from around the corner, and Akira shunted aside such thoughts for later. The Phantom Thieves lunged into action like a well-oiled machine, decimating the ambushing Shadow before it could even squeeze out a blow. It was over and done with in less than four breaths. 

“Man, this is lame,” Ryuji complained, “The Shadows here are  _ super weak.” _

“That just goes to show how much we’ve all improved as Persona users,” Mona said proudly, “We used to struggle against these before, remember?”

“Yeah,” Ryuji grinned, a confident swagger to his gait, “That’s right!”

“It’s hard to imagine it’s only been less than two months since we got these powers,” Ann mused, “I wonder how much stronger we’ll get?”

“As much as we need to,” Akira answered, though he wondered that himself. Their learning curve had been steep, and their abilities matched that dangerous breakneck speed just for survival. As they continued their stint as Phantom Thieves, will the Shadows and Palace continue to match them step-by-step? Will they be able to keep up?

Akira uneasily stowed those concerns for later. He shouldn’t try to doubt everyone, but still, he worried...

Their flower-picking went well. They collected a large amount that would definitely please Jose, dealt with their target, and tracked down the egg boy in a cosy little deadend where he was twining together what looked like locks of hair into a neat braid for easier keeping. 

“Mister! You’re back!” Jose said happily when they approached with their flowers in hand, “And you brought more flowers!”

“What’cha got there?” Ryuji asked, nodding at the hair in Jose’s hands. 

“Oh, this?” Jose showed off his handiwork. The hair looked glossy and soft, “It’s human hair. I’m neatening it up so it’s easier to store.”

“Human…  _ hair?” _ Ann repeated incredulously. 

“Freely given!” Jose hastened to say.

Akira saw his opportunity. 

“There’s another human who visits you?” he asked casually, watching as Jose stowed away the braided hair into his pocket, “Do they help you with your flower-picking too?”

“Sometimes,” Jose said, “Usually in exchange for things he needs.” 

“Wait…” Ryuji blinked, “There’s another Persona user runnin’ around in here?”

“Could it be this ‘Black Mask’ Madarame spoke of?” Yusuke mused aloud. 

“It could well be,” Mona said solemnly, “What does he look like? Does he wear a mask?”

“Who? Goro?” Jose laughed and shook his head, “He doesn’t wear a mask like you do. He’s… a little different. Unique!”

“A Persona user without a mask…?” Ryuji mumbled, scratching at his head, “How’s that possible? Oi, Mona, got any ideas?”

“I guess some Persona users don’t require a mask…” Mona mumbled, but he sounded a little unsure of himself, “I’m not sure. I think we’d have to meet this ‘Goro’ to figure out his deal.” 

Akira took out the photograph Justine had given him and held it out for Jose to inspect. He felt a little like a detective from a Noir film; “Is this him?”

“That’s him!” Jose said brightly, “Wow, this is an old one, though. He looks so young here! Wow!”

Ann snatched the photograph out of his hands, and all of the Phantom Thieves (sans Mona who complained he couldn’t see) crowded round to scrutinise the ‘mysterious Goro’. No one questioned where Akira had gotten it - thankfully they were used to him magicking up weird shit out of nowhere. 

“He’s cute,” Ann finally said, “Like, too cute to be evil.”

“That’s not a thing,” Ryuji grumped. 

“Let me see!” Mona whined.

“Oh come on, look at those cute widdle cheeks!”

“Just because he has those ‘cute widdle cheeks’ doesn’t mean he ain’t evil!”

“Hmm,” Yusuke filched the photo while Ann and Ryuji continued to squabble over what degree of ‘cuteness’ made one immune to being ‘evil’, “Can we judge him to be evil just on looks alone…?”

“He’s not evil,” Akira sighed, reclaiming the photo and stuffing it back into his pocket, “I hope.”

“Oh, Goro’s harmless,” Jose said, looking fascinated at Ann and Ryuji’s argument, “Say, do you want to meet him?”

Everyone paused at that, and Akira tilted his head, wondering if it really was that easy. 

“Because he wants to meet you,” Jose continued, “I told him all about you, and he seemed excited! To be honest, I think he’s been lonely, and my studies of humanity have taught me that humans need a certain level of socialising to maintain a good level of health. I try my best but…”

Jose sighed, slumping his shoulders a little as he fidgeted with the sleeve of his coat, “There’s a lot I still don’t understand about humans! So, I feel like I’m not really satisfying a lot of his social needs…”

“Aw, I’m sure he appreciates your efforts,” Ann said gently. 

“We’d like to meet him,” Akira cut in, before the conversation derailed too much. He was patting himself on the back for cracking the case so easily - his fellow ‘Inmate’ was called ‘Goro’, huh? “Can you arrange something?”

“Oh, well,” Jose looked a bit sheepish, “Goro’s a free-spirit! He comes and goes as he pleases… but I have a feeling he’ll visit today, so maybe hang around for a bit?”

Akira glanced over his team, and everyone nodded in agreement. 

“Sure,” he said, turning back to Jose with his cocky smile, “We’ll wait.”

* * *

Mementos was getting bigger again.

Goro watched the train pull away from the opposite station, whisking away the crowd of featureless Shadows that had shambled on, vainly trying to stretch the kinks out of his back. The platform bench wasn’t the cosiest of beds to lie on, but he had to make due after discovering his way out had been barred by the hellhounds called Caroline and Justine. Trust them to stand vigil after he entered Mementos…

It happened occasionally, when things misaligned. He was fine spending a few extra days in Mementos, so long as it was only that:  _ days. _ He never went anywhere without a small stock of supplies in his pocket, and in a pinch Jose always managed to scrounge up something edible or hydrating… but comfortable beds were in short supply in Mementos, and no matter how much he squirmed, wriggled or flopped, the train platform benches and floor were hard, cold, and  _ awful. _

“You should create a breakroom next,” Goro called out to Mementos at large, stiffly making his way to the upper floors, “Instead of making another million useless train platforms.”

Mementos’s wind gained a cutting edge to it. 

“Fuck off,” Goro grumbled, huddling deeper in his coat to fend off the chill. This was why he hated Mementos; it was such a petty cognitive space. Whoever was shaping it had a massive rod shoved up their ass, that’s for sure, “Can’t take any criticism, huh? Bitch.”

The air felt sulky after that, but Goro ignored it. He jogged the next few levels, his steps dogged by the warning jingle of chains - wow, the Master of Mementos was really pissy today, huh? - but the ominous pressure eased the higher he went, closer to the Metaverse and further from whatever lay at the bottom of Mementos. Something ugly, and twisted and dark, no doubt. 

This was why Goro hated Mementos. Jose was so certain it was the rawest form of human cognition, but Goro had his doubts. The Metaverse as a whole was a perfect mirror to human cognition, but Mementos warped what it had, twisted and coiled it into a disgusting lump of rotting guts. It captured the worst of humanity and somehow made it even  _ more _ repugnant, and it got worse the deeper you went, your skin feeling oily and the air thick with rot and decay. It made him nauseous. 

“If the stalkers are at the entrance again, I’m just going to make a break for it,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He had a horrible kink there - he must’ve slept at a weird angle, “I’m not spending any longer in this creepy place.”

He reached the upper floors stiff-backed and groaning quietly - why did he go so  _ deep? _ Curse his insatiable curiosity - and made a last minute decision to visit Jose before he left. His healing items were cheaper than letting the Shopkeeper Shadow gouge out his fucking wallet, even if it did mean flower-picking. 

“Better get started,” he muttered irritably, and diverted from the path back to the surface to plunder the side passages for those flowers - completely unaware that his life was about to be completely turned on its head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is just laying the groundwork for them meeting gdhdfshdd next chapter we will finally hit our stride of goro encountering the PT, and how that will go... heheheh...


	3. First Deal

Jose’s cart was surprisingly very comfortable. 

Akira shifted to snuggle down deeper into his graceless sprawl in the cart, ignoring the few hard corners and edges digging into his lower back. It was like lying on a pile of bricks, all these useless knick knacks Jose had compiled in the back of his cart, but Akira had mastered the catlike skill of being utterly boneless, so the bumps and corners didn’t bother him much as he lazily watched his friends introduce Jose to a game called ‘Ballcup’. 

In all honesty it was a game they all just made up to alleviate the boredom of waiting around for Goro to show up, and Akira, being the good leader that he was, was supervising their game while also keeping an eye out. If that also meant he got to laze about as well, then, well, he was just being efficient. 

The game everyone was playing was fairly simple: they scrounged a bucket from Jose’s cart and had it positioned several metres away. This was the goal. Everyone took turns trying to toss random objects Jose had in a box into the bucket, with points being scored depending on what kind of object they managed to get in there. It was a simple game, but Jose appeared absolutely  _ fascinated _ at participating in  _ an important human custom _ and would give useful hints of information about ‘Goro’ as they played, such as: 

Jose met Goro when ‘he was about as tall as me’ (a child). 

Goro had ‘two Persona’ (another wildcard). 

Goro had been complaining recently of being stalked by two ‘psycho midgets’ (Caroline and Justine?). 

Goro hated humans (what did that mean?).

Akira mulled over it, tapping his fingers against what felt like the edge of a broken TV set. The Metaverse was older than Akira initially assumed, then. He had thought that it wasn’t much older than a handful of years, considering those mental shutdowns had started over two years ago, but from the sounds of it the Metaverse was potentially over  _ ten _ years old. Who knew how many people had entered and left this mysterious world. There could be tens, even hundreds, of potential Persona users roaming Tokyo, none of them becoming as public as the Phantom Thieves.

_ or they died, _ Akira thought grimly.

After all, if Akira hadn’t awakened to Arsene, he and Ryuji would be rotting away in Kamoshida’s Palace right now. He wondered how that would’ve translated in the real world. Would they have simply disappeared? Would the Metaverse have spat their corpses out somewhere?

He couldn’t help but think. 

_ “...se…!” _

Akira sat up a little at that faint shout, and everyone else stilled, Jose perking up with a; “Oh, that’s him!  _ Goro! Over here!” _

There was a strange pause where everyone sort of looked at each other in bewilderment - as if realising that they had spent so long waiting that they hadn’t really  _ considered _ how to act when this Goro finally arrived. Akira remained calm, languidly half-draped over Jose’s cart like a bikini-clad lady in a car commercial, his gaze trained on that dimly lit, short bend that led into their deadend. 

“Should we stand in a line?” Yusuke mused, “Or shall we pose dramatically to generate a good first impression?”

“Just act natural!” Ann hissed. 

‘Acting natural’ turned out for them to be artfully posed about Jose’s cart in painfully stiff ways. Ann was leaning against the door - almost bent double because of how low Jose’s cart sat - and Morgana was leaning against the same door, a paw cupping his furry chin as he stared very hard at Ann’s knee. 

Ryuji and Yusuke were standing next to each other staring at Jose’s steering wheel, nodding and humming as if carrying a coherent conversation. Jose himself was just watching them all with an air of open curiosity, no doubt wondering if this was some strange ‘human thing’. 

Akira just felt fond exasperation. His team couldn’t act their way through an open door.

“Jose!” the voice - Goro - called again, followed by the man himself rounding the bend, “I want to-”

He froze. 

Everyone froze. 

Goro looked different to his photograph, Akira observed, taking advantage of this taut moment to commit as much as he could to memory. Perhaps it was the harsh lighting of Mementos, but gone were the round-cheeks and soft jaw - his face was sharp, mature, with vibrant, crimson eyes framed by thick eyelashes, and wild, soft brown hair that tumbled about his face in that thick, tousled way that made it clear he didn’t regularly brush it, if at all. At some point since his photograph and now, Goro had metamorphosed from sweetness to sultriness. 

_ holy shit, _ Akira mentally whistled, his gaze dropping from that striking face to his body. Goro wore an outfit similar to Jose, just with the colours inverted: a starry, black coat that was slightly more form fitting, and  _ very snug _ pale leggings that were topped off with ankle high boots.  _ Heeled _ ankle high boots. He looked lean and well-toned, with muscular legs like he spent his almost every waking moment running around. He might do. 

And no mask: black or otherwise. 

The silence, which really was edging into awkward territory, was soundly broken when Jose presumably grew bored with the standoff. The little egg boy waved cheerily at Goro, drawing his attention. 

“Look Goro, Mister turned up with his friends,” Jose said, either ignoring, or oblivious to, the suffocating tension, “Mister, this is Goro. I told you he’d visit today.”

Akira gave the still-frozen Goro a small wave, trying to seem friendly and non-threatening. He could see how Goro’s feet were shifting, his body adjusting like he was torn between bolting or creeping closer. He didn’t expect this unknown Persona user to seem so  _ skittish, _ but he was, Goro’s vibrant eyes locked onto Akira like he was some bizarre alien that had beamed in from space right in front of him. 

In the corner of his eye, Akira saw Ryuji open his mouth, only for Ann to quickly lean over and slap her hand over it before he could yell out a greeting. Goro glanced at the rapid movement, and confusion flitted over his face before it cooled into something neutral and inscrutable. 

“Jose,” Goro spoke, his voice surprisingly soft and lilting. Despite its apparent quietness, it carried very well over the backdrop of Mementos’s perpetual wind, “You should have warned me.”

“But you wanted to meet them,” Jose said.

Goro’s gaze flickered between all of them, his expression clearly saying;  _ not all at once. _

The whole atmosphere felt strained, like one wrong word would have Goro fleeing into Mementos and out of their grasp for good. Slowly, telegraphing his movements, Akira slid off the cart and eased into his usual, non-threatening slouch, his hands burying deep into his coat pockets. Goro was looking at him mistrustfully. 

“Hey,” Akira called over, the small space between them feeling like a cavernous gulf, “Can we talk?”

“About?” Goro demanded, his tone just shy of aggressive. 

But not hostile aggressive, Akira observed clinically. It was the aggression of when you were shoved onto the backfoot and you didn’t know what else to do except push back to regain lost ground. Akira didn’t take it personally, and moved a few steps away from the others and towards Goro, his posture open and non-threatening. 

“Joker…!” Morgana hissed warningly. 

“It’s alright,” Akira said, not looking away from Goro, knowing the split-second he broke eye contact the other Persona user would bolt, “Me and Goro’ll have a private chat, just around the corner. Get to know each other.”

Goro’s gaze flickered just past him - to Jose - and back again. He wavered in place, his jaw working, before he nodded curtly and backed up. Akira matched him step for step, until they had rounded the corner and left Jose and the Phantom Thieves behind (though, no doubt, they would be eavesdropping shamelessly). Goro was still well out of arm’s reach. 

They stared at each other without speaking for a long moment. 

“...this isn’t much of a talk,” Goro broke first, crossing his arms over his chest - defensive, uncomfortable - tapping the toe of his boot against the ground. 

Akira smiled and lifted his shoulders in a shrug, “I guess not.”

Another pause, this one more scrutinising on both sides. Just as Akira logged away every detail, Goro was clearly doing the same, his gaze sweeping down the length of his body with an intensity that could have easily been misconstrued. Akira fought down the urge to shiver - it was like being stared down by a maneating serpent. 

“You’re… a Persona user,” Goro said. It wasn’t exactly a question, but there was an uncertain lilt to his words, “Jose said you were.”

“Yeah,” Akira shrugged again, “I can summon Persona. Multiple ones. The others can summon their own Persona too.”

Goro’s shoulders eased a fraction from their tense hunch. 

“I see...” Goro’s thoughts were clearly whirring, his gaze flickering to the side and back again, his mistrustful expression easing into something more neutral, “Prove it.”

Akira didn’t see any harm in it, so he lifted his hand to his mask, tearing it away. It flared hot beneath his palm, vanishing into azure embers, and Arsene thrummed into being with a flap of dark wings and a rumbling laugh. A heat inside Akira’s chest swelled, as it always did with Arsene’s summoning, and his lips curled into a wild, cocky grin. Arsene was like a shot of grandiloquent swagger - heady and addictive and hot. 

Goro studied him clinically. 

“...how strange,” he mused, blinking slowly as Arsene shimmered away and Akira’s mask reformed, “It’s different.”

“How so?”

Goro lifted a hand to his face and mimed pulling off a mask, “This. I don’t… do this. And it’s not as pointlessly dramatic.”

“What do you do?” Akira asked, and when Goro frowned, he added; “I showed you mine. It’s polite to return the favour.”

“I suppose…” Goro said slowly, like he was trying to find fault in that logic as he spoke, “Yes, you’re right. It’s only fair.” 

And Goro - well, he didn’t do anything. 

He didn’t do anything, yet  _ something _ flared into existence behind him. It wasn’t the eruption of those brilliant flames of rebellion, it wasn’t the jingle of broken chains rattling around him - it was like watching something slink out of pitch-black water; a ripple heralding its arrival, a blink and it’s there, sharp teeth bared in a crimson grin, yellow eyes glittering beneath curved horns, a skinny, lanky body looming over Goro like some sort of demonic spirit right out of a story. 

Terrifyingly silent. 

“I just will him into being,” Goro explained, “And he appears. It’s that easy.”

“I see,” Akira said carefully, blinking when the Persona vanished just as quickly - and silently - as it came. That Persona - it must’ve been Loki - looked a lot more, er,  _ threatening _ than the others’. More like a Shadow than a Persona. 

But, creepy Persona or not, the ice felt broken between them now. Goro took a hesitant step closer - lightly, like a deer cautiously stepping out from the safety of a treeline. 

“You’re a Persona user,” Goro repeated, “Yet I’ve never seen you before.”

“I’ve never seen you before either,” Akira returned easily, slotting his hands back into his pockets. Goro took another step closer.

“Maybe we kept missing each other,” Goro murmured, half to himself, and there was a strange look in his eyes. Something like frustration, but not quite, and he stopped  _ just _ out of arm’s reach, his gaze trained on Akira’s mask. 

“Maybe,” Akira said, “Do you come here often?”

“To Mementos? No,” Goro scoffed, a look of disdain flitting across his face, “It’s boring and horrible. I don’t know why Jose insists on staying in here.” 

“Staying?”

“The Metaverse is just up those stairs,” Goro pointed in a random direction, at a wall, “If he wants to learn more about ‘humans’, he can go mingle with the Shadows topside. It’s better than this creepy place where the Master of it doesn’t even have the decency to  _ make a room with beds.” _

Goro directed this last sentence to the ceiling, scowling deeply. Akira peered up, tilting his head, but nothing happened. 

“Hm, perhaps it can’t hear me this high up,” Goro mumbled, looking down at his feet, “It’s sunk too deep, I think.”

“Are you talking about Mementos?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Goro frowned at him, “Jose said you came here often. Haven’t you seen how deep this place goes? It’s like a parasite of the Metaverse. A… what is it? Ribbonworm? Stringworm?”

After a blank moment of staring, Akira understood what he was trying to say, “A tapeworm? That people get in their intestines?”

“Yes! That,” Goro looked pleased, “That exactly. It’s a cognitive tapeworm. Absolutely disgusting.” 

Well, that conjured an unpleasant mental image Akira could’ve gone without. But, that also raised further questions. A cognitive tapeworm… so, the deeper they went, the closer to the ‘head’ they got - and what was this ‘tapeworm’ feeding off of? Morgana claimed he couldn’t remember much about Mementos, only that he was driven to reach the bottom - could that be it, then? Maybe they needed to reach the bottom to kill the ‘head’ of Mementos? Perhaps Mementos wasn’t just ‘Humanity’s Palace’, but something more?

It occured to Akira then that Goro, strange and skittish and unknown as he was, was a valuable source of information. Morgana knew a lot, but Goro clearly had experience roaming around the place as he did. He might, in fact, even know about this Black Mask and about Palaces. Akira glanced at him thoughtfully. 

“I know that look,” Goro said before he could open his mouth, “You want something.”

“We want to reach the bottom of Mementos,” Akira said, deciding to be blunt, “and to know about the Metaverse. Can you tell us more?”

Goro observed him for a moment - and smiled. It was a pretty smile, one that transformed his whole face into something gentler and warmer. It was a charming expression, absolutely breathtaking and beautiful, with a twinkle of danger in those vibrant eyes of his. They almost seemed to glow in the strange, alien light of Mementos, and Akira felt his pulse pick up with excitement. He felt like he was playing with fire. 

“Perhaps,” Goro purred, “It depends. What do I get in return?”

Transactional. Of course. Akira thought - recalled the little scraps and pieces of information Jose had dropped - lonely, strange, hungry for attention and validation - and knew exactly what would entice him. 

“Me,” Akira said simply. 

There was a pause where Goro looked hilariously flabbergasted, like he wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not. He squinted at him, tilted his head, and said, “What?”

“Me,” Akira repeatedly, “I’ll hang out with you. Here, or in the Metaverse, or back in the real world-”

“Real world?” Goro looked confused now, “What real world?”

What? “The… real world.”

Goro stared at him. 

Akira stared back. 

“Wait,” Realisation dawned in Goro’s eyes, “Ah, so that’s where you have been hiding, then? The ‘real world’? Is that a Palace? I remember there being a planet-themed Palace somewhere to the north of Shibuya...”

Akira didn’t say anything. Something was beginning to slot into place, a very uncomfortable, bewildering something. He had thought it odd, when Jose mentioned meeting Goro as a child, how Jose had phrased things around that event and how Goro visited him for haircuts or to mend his clothes or other minor, domestic things. Akira assumed Goro’s homelife was just plain shitty, and that he visited Mementos to escape from it, but instead… 

What if… oh. 

“Goro,” Akira said very, very slowly, “Do you…  _ live _ in the Metaverse?”

Goro looked at him like he was an idiot. 

“Obviously?” he scoffed, “Where else would I live.  _ Here?” _

Well. 

_ Well then. _

“Uh, okay,” Akira was genuinely wrong-footed, trying to process the fact that Goro was, essentially, a  _ feral. _ Wait, did it count as feral if he grew up in bizarro-Tokyo? Did he even know how to read or write? Jose must’ve taught him - or he taught himself. Did he even know how human society even functioned, if he was going off of whatever exaggerated, distorted version was paraded around here? How the  _ fuck _ did he even survive here? Jose? Was he  _ raised _ by  _ Jose?  _ Did he even  _ know _ he was a human?

_ jesus fucking christ, _ Akira thought, faint with the implications.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Goro asked, wariness creeping into his expression again. 

“New offer,” Akira said swiftly, his mind churning and gnawing over this revelation, “You teach us about Mementos and the Metaverse, and I’ll show you the real world.”

“Where you and the others live?” Goro asked shrewdly, and mulled it over when Akira nodded, “Is it very different to the Metaverse?”

Akira thought of the Metaverse’s wild physics, the violent Shadows, and the ugly distortions of mankind, and said, “Yes. Very. Very different.” 

Goro mulled it over again. 

“...I suppose…” he began, cupping his chin, “I’m curious about this ‘real world’...”

Akira waited, his hands curled into fists in his pockets as Goro hummed and hawed, visibly struggling with both curiosity and wariness. He wasn’t sure what he would do if Goro did accept his offer - if he’s been here since he was a child, there must be a missing person’s report about him in the real world, right? Though after so long, people would presume him dead. Goro would be paperless and homeless if they dragged him back to the real world, unable to fully reintegrate into society because he had been living in an  _ alternative dimension for  _ **_years._ **

_ jesus  _ **_christ,_ ** Akira thought again.

“Alright…” Goro finally said, “I accept. We will do a knowledge exchange. You will take me to the real world, and show me things from it. In return, I’ll teach you about the Metaverse and Mementos. Does that sound doable?”

“It does,” Akira said, quickly boxing up his doubts and uncertainty and holding out his hand, “Shake on it?”

Goro peered at his hand, clearly confused about the gesture, but he reached out and gingerly took his hand. After a moment he squeezed it, their hands shaking robotically up and down as they held each other’s gazes, sealing the deal. 

“Also,” Akira said when they let go of each other, “Have you heard of a Black Mask?”

Goro blinked at him, “A black mask? Are you looking for a costume change?”

“What? No,” Akira shook his head, “There’s another Persona user with a black mask, apparently. They’re invading Palaces and committing crimes, or something.” 

“That’s rather vague,” Goro said, but there was a faraway, thoughtful look about him as he hummed, “However… I think I’ve heard something like that.”

Akira’s heart lurched with excitement, “Oh?”

“Yes,” Goro nodded, his voice coming out more certain, “Yes, I recall - some Shadows were complaining about some black masked brute kicking them around. I didn’t think they were a Persona user, though. Shadows fight each other often when their Palaces begin to intrude on each other, or if their human counterparts share a close relationship, geographically or socially. I assumed it was something like that.”

“Do you know which Shadows complained?” Akira asked eagerly. 

Goro scrunched his nose up, muttering; “You’re demanding a lot outside of our deal.”

“I’ll give you something in return,” Akira said, and quickly dug through his pockets for something quick and small to share. Luckily, Metaverse logic meant his pockets were spacious and bottomless, however unluckily it meant it was a disorganised mess sometimes, and he accidentally withdrew his tupperware of curry without meaning to. 

Akira was about to put it back, but Goro stopped him with a curious; “What’s that?”

“Oh, this? It’s Leblanc curry,” Akira watched Goro covetly eyeing the tupperware, “You want it?”

“In exchange for information on ‘Black Mask’?” Goro didn’t even pause to think on it, “Yes. Give it to me.” 

“Demanding,” Akira teased, but he handed over the tupperware. Goro promptly shoved it into his coat pocket - he was taking advantage of Metaverse physics too, it seemed. 

“To answer your previous question,” Goro said, far more friendlier now, “I recall a Shadow by the name of Madarame complaining about it. He used to have some ugly, tacky Palace, but it vanished recently-”

“Ah,” Akira said, “That was us.”

“That was  _ you?” _ Goro’s eyes lit up, “How? Was it fun? Did you  _ bulldoze _ that piece of shit to the ground? Did that Shadow-fucker cry? I bet he cried, the disgusting little worm.”

Akira leaned back, startled at Goro’s disgusted vehemence, “Uh, we just stole his treasure and the Palace collapsed. Why- why the hostility?”

“Because Madarame was an awful, slimy creature that was undeserving of the oxygen he breathed,” Goro sneered, “An abominable monster that put most petty humans to shame. Did you see the interior of his Palace? Disgusting. A complete eyesore that ruined my fucking skyline view.” 

_ note to self, _ Akira thought sarcastically,  _ goro really hates palaces.  _

“...back to the subject at hand,” Akira said, “We can’t ask him much about Black Mask since he’s… gone.” 

“Hmm, true…” Goro tapped his foot against the floor and crossed his arms, looking upwards towards the ceiling, “Who else? Oh, what was his name? He kept yelling it when I destroyed his ugly statue...”

Akira blinked. 

“Ah! Kaneshiro!” Goro snapped his fingers triumphantly, “The Shadow with the floating Palace. It is in Shibuya, and takes the form of a flying bank. Another piece of shit, just so you’re forewarned, but he’s all bark, no bite. Hit him hard enough and he blubbers like a child.”

“Noted…” Akira said slowly, “Kaneshiro, bank, Shibuya. What kind of Palace is that?”

“One that reflects avarice,” Goro said simply, “He is obsessed with money to the point where he will drain the land dry for it. I hope you enjoy burning his Palace to the ground. All that money he’s collected will make for perfect kindling.” 

Akira nodded, already filling all of that away. It’d be difficult without the full name, but it seemed they had a potential target. If he had a Palace, then he required a change of heart anyway - if they learned more about this black mask, then, well… two birds, one stone. 

“Now, as for our other deal,” Goro continued, “When will be best for you?”

“Tomorrow?” Akira suggested, “Same time as now, we’ll meet you outside of Mementos.”

“We?” Goro’s gaze flickered over his shoulder, to where the others had been left behind, “As in, your whole group?”

“We’re a package deal,” Akira said simply. 

Goro looked uncertain, but after a moment he said, “They’re all Persona users, aren’t they?”

Why was that an important distinction? “Yes.”

“Then that’s fine,” Goro relaxed a fraction. He looked exhausted, “Yes, tomorrow at this time. You will show me the ‘real world’ and I will teach you more about Mementos and the Metaverse. This is a fair deal.” 

“Great,” Akira jerked his thumb over his shoulder, “Do you want to meet them now?”

“No. No…” Goro was already backing up, “Tomorrow will do. I need to prepare…” 

Akira didn’t stop him as Goro gave him one last lingering look before walking away. It didn’t take Goro long to vanish into the gloom of Mementos - silently, as if he was never there - leaving Akira standing there alone in the dark. 

He exhaled shakily, his shoulders slumping as he pushed his mask up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Of all things he had expected, that hadn’t been one of them. To think someone had been trapped in this place since they were a  _ child _ and lived here… how the hell did he survive?

“God, why do I have a feeling tomorrow’s going to go badly,” Akira groaned into his hand before forcing himself back into leader mode. He’ll worry about it later. For now, he had to break the news to his friends - and figure out what to show Goro tomorrow that wouldn’t overwhelm him too badly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now we're getting closer to the part i really want to write.... the first time goro enters the human world! 
> 
> also black mask is still around :) heheh... heh...


	4. Sushi Date - Pt1

It had been a long time since Goro was this nervous. 

He hated it - sweaty palms, nausea, a racing pulse - but he couldn’t deny it was what he felt. Ever since he made the deal with Joker, this feeling had hooked its claws into him and refused to let go. He slept poorly, he ate little, and he kept finding himself thinking of ways to renege on the deal without losing any pride - which in itself was shameful. 

Why was he so nervous? Maybe it was the idea of encountering a whole group of people - he had counted five in Joker’s group, which matched up with what Jose gave him, and Goro had never… been the focus of so many before. Shadows didn’t count - in great numbers they were stupid or single-minded, reflecting only a specific human concept or cognition. The truly intelligent ones were loners, and Goro didn’t have to worry about trying to befriend them, so there was no pressure in those encounters. Caroline and Justine he ran away from always, and Jose was just one person. 

Five people… all at once? How would he know who to speak to in what order or- the rules- or?

Goro chewed on his thumbnail, right down to the quick. 

It was close to their agreed meeting time, and his nervousness was at its peak. He was squatting at the mouth of one of the main streets that led to the large square that housed Mementos’s entrance, half-hidden by a shop sign advertising a picture of burgers - last thing he needed was to be spotted by the psycho twins and chased away - keenly waiting for the others’ arrival. He wanted to know which direction they came from, or the method of their travelling. 

As if summoned by his thoughts, he felt the Metaverse -  _ shift, _ oddly. It was like the curtain that hid its secret mechanisms from view was lifted briefly, the area warping with a ripple of purple and static - then Joker and the others were  _ there, _ standing in front of Mementos like they’d always been there. 

_ what?  _ Goro thought in confusion, tugging his glove back on as he leaned closer, scanning the surrounding area. As quickly as it came, that strange ripple was gone. How did - was it some invisibility thing? Or, a pocket dimension? The Metaverse was  _ notorious _ for hiding clever folds and holes within itself, with multiple Palaces existing within the same space - just different entrances and layers. Was there such a thing in Shibuya square itself?

The group were talking. A few of their voices carried across the empty space better than others - the blonds were very loud. 

“You think he’s gonna show?” the skull-masked one asked. 

“I mean, time might work differently here, so maybe he thinks it’s later…” the red-clad one said. 

Goro shook himself and drew in a deep breath. He can do this.  _ He can do this. _ He can meet five people, take a glimpse of their ‘real world’, and be  _ fine. _ He was certain these nerves would settle once he got the ball rolling. 

So, he patted his cheeks to centre himself and left his hiding place with a confidence he didn’t fully feel. He strutted, his chin tilted high and his expression bored - fake it ‘til you make it, the ultimate rule of the Metaverse - and came to a graceful halt far out of arm’s reach as the group as one turned to look at him. 

His nerves faltered at being the focus of so many eyes at once, so Goro looked solely at Joker, pretending he was talking only to him as he said, somewhat stupidly, “I’m here.”

Joker nodded, “Are you ready?”

Not at all. Not in the  _ slightest. _ Goro hesitated and crossed his arms across his chest, tapping the toe of his boot against the ground. 

“Before we go,” he said, “Tell me what it’s like, first.”

“The real world? It’s, uhhh, like this?” Skull said, gesturing vaguely to their surroundings, “Except brighter and not so creepy.”

Brighter? Maybe Goro should’ve packed some sunglasses. The Metaverse rarely shifted out of its perpetual twilight, and the brightly lit Palaces always dazzled him to the point of eye strain. He frowned at the thought. 

“It’s more lively too,” Panther added, “Not as quiet?”

Louder, then. Their Crowd Shadows must be one of the more boisterous lot - not Goro’s favourite, but he could tolerate them in small doses. It wasn’t as if Crowd Shadows had any substance - they were only there to give the  _ impression _ of crowds, after all, and never intruded on your personal space, intangible and smoke-like as they were. Goro felt himself relax a little more. 

“It is very mundane as well,” Fox finished up, “The feats we manage here cannot be replicated in the real world.” 

And it was boring too. Goro mulled over this. So, the ‘real world’ was brighter, louder and boring? What a strange combination. He couldn’t visualise what a place would be like that. A police station, maybe? Goro got trapped in one of those before, and it had been one of the dullest and most unpleasant moments of his life. 

“It would be easier to show him,” Mona said, “I think we’re just confusing him.”

“I’m standing right here,” Goro said tartly, “And I’m not confused. Hmph.” 

Mona gave him a doubtful look, but Joker swiftly intervened, “Alright, we’ll move over to the real world now.” 

Joker took something out of his pocket - a tablet thing that Goro saw pictures of on some of Shibuya’s storefronts. Curiously, he leaned in, watching as Joker tapped the screen and manifested some glowing eye - it gave him an unsettled feeling, like the blue door down in Mementos did. 

“What’s that?” he asked. 

“It’s the Metanav,” Mona explained, “It allows us to move back and forth between the real world and the Metaverse.”

So, the key to the pocket-space their home was in, Goro translated. He shook his head slightly, and cautiously reached out. Joker held still, unmoving as Goro tapped the edge of the tablet’s casing, “No, this?”

“You mean… the phone?” Panther said slowly, a tinge of disbelief in her voice. 

“Man, you don’t know what a phone is?” Skull exclaimed. 

Goro felt heat rush to his cheeks. Did he make a misstep? He blustered to his own defence, the word ‘phone’ dredging up fuzzy memories of something, “I-I know what a phone is! You can communicate with it. But a phone does not look like that!”

“Oh!” Panther snapped her fingers, “That’s right- you’ve been here since you were a kid, huh? That would’ve been before smartphones got really popular. You’d only know about landlines!”

“Smart...phone? Landlines?”

“In all honesty I never saw the charm of smartphones,” Fox mumbled, “They come with far too many apps and gadgets...”

“That’s ‘cuz you were born an old man,” Skull deadpanned. 

Joker studied him for a moment before holding his phone out. Gingerly, Goro took it, the phone resting awkwardly in his palm. 

“Play around with it,” Joker said, “Almost everyone has a smartphone in the real world.”

Which implied Goro would have to get one as well, at some point. He frowned but took the offer to experiment. When he tapped the screen - a clutter of squares with pictures inside of them, barely any writing - nothing happened. Joker mimed taking his glove off, so Goro did so, finding that he could move things on the screen with his finger. It was confusing. He had no idea what these pictures did. 

“That’s the call button,” Panther said, at some point migrating to his shoulder to lean over it. He almost jumped, having been so engrossed in this new interesting thing he hadn’t noticed her approach, “If you click that, you can input a number to call someone else! Except, there’s no phone service in the Metaverse…” 

“No internet either,” Skull grouched. 

“So, quite a lot of this will be useless here,” Panther admitted with a small laugh. She pointed at a few more icons, “That’s text messaging - you can see some of our convos here, look!”

She tapped the icon for him, and a bit wall of text flared to life. Goro blinked rapidly, struggling to keep up. He could pick out several words, enough to get the gist of the conversation shown, but he could admit his reading ability was fairly basic. It was a skill that had been shunted aside in favour of others more suited for basic survival, and trying to find legible writing in the Metaverse was difficult. The books here tended to descend into cognitive gibberish if it was longer than a few lines, anyway. 

Joker noticed his blank look, “Wait. Goro, can you read?”

It was a question offered without a hint of judgement, but Goro still felt something in him bristle at it. Everyone seemed to pause, staring as if it was  _ unthinkable _ that someone could be missing such a  _ basic skill,  _ and Goro tried not to shrink back from the intense focus. He held the phone a little tighter to himself, hunching his shoulders sullenly when he realised he couldn’t  _ lie _ either. He’d be found out almost immediately.

So, through gritted teeth and no little humiliation, he admitted; “I can read… a little. Nothing complicated.”

“Dude,” Skull said, only to yelp when Mona abruptly punched his knee,  _ “Ow! _ What!? I wasn’t gonna say anythin’!”

“Oh, um…” Panther visibly fished for the right words, “Well, I mean, that’s something we can help you with, right, Joker?”

Joker nodded, “If you want to learn.”

Goro eyed them all suspiciously, uncertain. Panther was smiling brightly at him, clearly bewildered by his near-illiteracy but trying not to be judging about it. Joker was just giving him that even, placid stare - utterly unruffled. He must’ve suspected since he met him yesterday. Joker was cannier than he had first assumed… 

“I would be more than happy to teach our new friend the beauty of calligraphy,” Fox said, actually sounding a little eager, “Nothing inflames the passion for reading like beautifully drawn-”

“We’re gonna teach him to  _ read, _ not paint fancy kanji,” Skull sighed, gently nudging Fox in the shoulder, “Calligraphy can come  _ after.” _

“Hm,” Fox pouted.

“You would all… teach me?” Goro asked carefully, “Just like that?”

“Well, I mean…” Skull rubbed the back of his head, “You’re gonna struggle if you can’t read well. People’re bastards and will judge you on somethin’ like that, even if you’re the smartest person around.” 

“Also, it opens up a lot of things for you,” Panther continued, “Books, video games, uhm, the internet! A lot of stuff is on the internet now - though, I guess you do have screen readers that can read it out for you…” 

Goro really didn’t understand these people, “What would you want in return?”

“Um, nothing?” Panther glanced at Joker questioningly, “Right?”

“Think of it as a freebie,” Joker said easily, like he wasn’t upending Goro’s understanding of social relationships, “We just want to help you out.” 

Goro processed this for a moment. 

“A freebie?” he tried the word out. It was foreign to him, “You want to teach me an important skill… for free?” 

Joker nodded. 

Goro studied him, tried to discern any hint of trickery or dishonesty. This was extremely confusing. He hadn’t even seen their ‘real world’ yet and he was already exhausted beyond all measure. Who knew other Persona users were so strange and incomprehensible? 

“No strings attached?” Goro pressed, “No calling in a favour later down the line?”

“Wow, you’re really suspicious, huh?” Mona said.

“Nothing in this world is free,” Goro said, “Everything is conducted on a transactional basis. Quid pro quo. If a deal appears too good, it normally is.”

Joker hummed at that, and said, “Alright then. In that case, how about in exchange for one reading lesson, you have to spend a socialising session with one of us.” 

Goro mulled over that. 

“...the socialising session cannot go beyond two hours without both side’s consent,” Goro added. 

Joker nodded, “Sure, sounds good.”

“Then it’s a deal,” Goro said, a lot more comfortable with the idea now. He liked a good deal. It made everything feel balanced. 

“Cool, now that’s settled,” Skull cut in, gesturing in the universal sign for ‘hurry up’, “Let’s go! I’m  _ starving!  _ Really cravin’ a Big Bang Burger too.”

“Ugh, really?” Panther groaned, “You’re gonna introduce real world food to Goro with  _ burgers?” _

“Hey, it’s a Tokyo classic!”

“It is not!”

“Don’t worry, they’re always like that,” Joker said as the two blonds loudly squabbled. They reminded Goro a bit of Caroline and Justine - he wondered if they were twins as well, “They don’t really fight.”

“I see…” Goro said, “By the way, I know what a Big Bang Burger is.”

Everyone paused at that, Skull gaping at him with a; “you do?”

Goro pointed at one of the nearby streets, “There is a shop that sells them. I guess they’re so popular in your world that the Shadows here like them too. They’re too greasy for my tastes, though...”

“Dude.”

“How about sushi?” Mona suggested, “We haven’t had sushi in a long while.  _ Real _ sushi too, not the conveyor belt stuff.”

“That’s expensive,” Joker said, sounding a little pained about this.

Goro perked up at the mention of money, “Sushi? I love sushi. If it’s money that’s the issue, I can pay our way.”

And, to prove it, he delved his hand into his coat pocket and drew out thick wads of paper money. With nothing to do except bully Shadows for hours on end, Goro was proud to say he was a very rich man. He could afford anything from the stores around here, and judging by how the whole group was staring at him, this currency was valid in their world too.

“W-Where’d you get all that money?!” Panther yelled. 

“Shadows,” Goro said blithely, “If you kick them hard enough they cough it up. I’m very good at that.”

“So much…” Fox groaned with intense yearning.

“In return for your kindness so far,” Goro continued, feeling his nerves finally settle at finding his footing amongst the group, “I will pay for us to have sushi in the ‘real world’. Is that a fair deal for you all?”

“Deal!” Everyone except Joker yelled at once. Fox even had tears in his eyes.

Joker just looked amused, a small, fond smile playing about his lips, “If you’re sure… these guys can eat a lot.”

“I’m sure,” Goro pocketed his money again and handed Joker’s phone back to him. He felt buoyed by his success. He had been silly, getting so nervous before. Befriending other Persona users, while bewildering and confusing, was actually very easy! He also got a few nice deals out of it too! 

_ i should tell jose about this later, _ Goro said to himself,  _ he’ll be interested to know how the befriending ritual goes.  _

“Okay, so, since we have dinner planned now,” Joker said, “Is everyone ready?”

Everyone nodded, and Goro braced himself when Joker tapped that creepy eye on his phone. The world rippled, his stomach swooping nauseatingly like he just dropped several feet without actually moving - and abruptly found himself in the middle of absolute  _ chaos. _

* * *

It was always a bit disorientating to move from Mementos back to Shibuya square - not because of the whole ‘jumping between dimensions’ thing, though that did play a part, but because going from near total silence to the roar of Tokyo’s crowd was enough to make even Akira flinch. They had timed it so it was after the afternoon’s rush hour, but the press of bodies was still quite thick and boisterous - a mix of business suits and school uniforms, conversations meshing together with the noise of distant traffic. 

Akira shook it off easily, but Goro, he noticed, did not. 

Their newest acquaintance looked bewildered and alarmed, his head snapping from side to side as he took in the flow of people surrounding their little group. They were right next to Shibuya station’s entrance, which… thinking about it, probably wasn’t the best place to dump a feral boy without warning. 

“W-What’s with all these people?” Goro demanded, his posture turning defensive and wary, “These aren’t Shadows…?”

“No, they’re people,” Ryuji said, “There ain’t any Shadows here.”

“Sorry, we should’ve chosen a quieter place,” Akira said, and he slowly reached out, telegraphing his movement. Goro didn’t stop him, so he gently grabbed his bicep, tugging him close to his side, “It’s fine. Just stick close and you’ll be okay.”

At those words, the Phantom Thieves shuffled around Goro like a pseudo-barrier, which made him ease up a fraction - only a fraction. He looked like a coiled spring ready to snap at the slightest trigger, his muscles taut and quivering as slowly, they pushed their way through the crowd. Akira could feel Goro tremble under his hand, and he cursed himself again for his lack of foresight. 

“So! This is Shibuya Square!” Ann said loudly, no doubt trying to distract Goro. It seemed to work. He was staring at her like she was a lunatic instead of looking half a breath away from bolting, “As you can see, it gets very busy because it's right next to the station, which we’re entering now.” 

“The… station?” Goro repeated. 

“Yeah, you know, for the trains,” Ryuji picked up, “Mementos has them. The big cart things that run on the tracks?”

“I know what a train is,” Goro snapped testily, but he was looking worried now. They went down the steps leading into the station, and Goro anxiously glanced around him like he was expecting to be tackled at any moment, “But, we’re not allowed on those…?”

“You’re not allowed on Mementos’s trains, but these ones you are,” Mona answered, and there was a comical moment where Goro looked about his feet in confusion before realising Mona was perched over Akira’s shoulder. 

“Oh. You shapeshifted,” Goro said, sounding… absolutely unconcerned about that. In fact, he seemed almost calmed, like this sign of strangeness was reassuring in some way, “We’re allowed on these trains?”

“You just gotta pay,” Ryuji added. 

“Ah, hm, yes,” Yusuke murmured, “I may have to beg a few yen for a ticket…”

“Got ya covered, buddy.” 

“Pay for… a ticket…?” Goro looked flummoxed. Akira wondered if this was a new concept for him, or if he was just too overwhelmed to properly understand. Either way, Goro thankfully seemed to accept that they were going on a train and that he wasn’t going to die from it, though he didn’t look very happy either. 

“Why is this so… crowded…?” Goro muttered mostly to himself. He was still trembling, and Akira could see he looked sweaty and pale, his eyes flicking about them restlessly, “And why do they have faces? And eyes? I don’t like this… at all…”

Yeah, Akira  _ really _ miscalculated. 

“It’ll be okay, you’ll get used to it,” Ann was quick to reassure, patting Goro on the shoulder gently, “It’s only for a little bit, anyways. Just think: sushi! We’re getting sushi!”

“Mmn…” Goro was looking too green for sushi, in Akira’s opinion. 

Despite Goro’s obvious anxiety though, their journey through Shibuya station went well. With everyone assisting, Goro managed to purchase a return ticket to Ginza with minimal fuss, even if he seemed thoroughly confused when the concerned ticketmaster tried striking up conversation with him. With the biggest hurdle of their journey completed, they hustled to the Ginza line and bundled Goro into the least crowded carriage. 

“Here,” Akira said, dumping the Monabag on Goro’s lap, “You can look after Mona. It might help.”

“I don’t need looking after,” Mona grumped, his cute little head poking out of the bag. Goro held onto the bag firmly, hunched in his seat with his shoulders curled inwards like a little hedgehog. A bit of colour had returned to his cheeks now though - this late in the afternoon, there weren’t as many people on the Ginza subway, with only a few people sitting further down the carriage. The Phantom Thieves arranged themselves so they were surrounding him, with Akira on one side and Ann on the other, and Ryuji and Yusuke sitting directly across. 

“Man, I didn’t know buying a ticket could be so stressful,” Ryuji groaned, sprawled bonelessly in his seat, “Ain’tcha used to buying stuff, Goro?”

“Shop Shadows don’t… make conversation,” Goro said stiffly. Embarrassment was creeping into his expression, his gaze fixed to the floor, “They have stock phrases such as ‘welcome’ or ‘goodbye’, or to tell you the price of the item. They don’t… talk.” 

“Oh, well, umm, it’s different here,” Ann said gently, “All the, um, ‘Shop Shadows’ are people, so they’re like you and me. Sometimes they just want to get things over and done with quick, but sometimes they like to have a chat, or they might be worried… that ticketmaster probably thought you were ill, so he was concerned.”

Goro didn’t say anything to that. He frowned slightly. 

“...is it this crowded everywhere?” he asked, “Outside of Shibuya station, I mean.”

“Well, it’s Tokyo,” Ryuji said, like that was an answer. 

At Goro’s blank look, Akira clarified, “Tokyo’s a big city. There’s about 13.5 million people living here, so it’ll always be busy in the more populated areas.”

Goro stared at him, growing a little paler.

“But it’s not like that  _ everywhere,” _ Ann hastened to add, “Shibuya’s just busy in general. Um, Ginza is too, which is where we’re going, but the sushi restaurant will be much quieter. We can even purchase a private booth, if you want privacy.”

Goro nodded slowly and fidgeted with the Monabag. 

“Oh, hold on,” Ann took out her phone and scooted closer to Goro’s side. Giving him a gentle nudge, she directed his attention to her phone screen, “Since we’ll be here for a while, why don’t I show you what kind of apps phones have to help you with languages? Look, I use this one…”

With Goro’s attention thoroughly snared by both Ann and Mona teaching him the ins and outs of Duolingo (well, Ann taught, Mona was there for moral support), Akira let out a quietly relieved breath. For a moment, he had been genuinely worried Goro would’ve bolted - in which case they  _ never _ would’ve found him. Well, unless he got picked up by the police, which, well… 

Akira eyed him discreetly. Unlike them, Goro’s clothes hadn’t changed when they transitioned over to the real world. His outfit was a little  _ unusual _ for a guy his age, and he hoped it wouldn’t draw unwanted attention. He made a mental note to stick by Goro’s side, just in case some people wanted to be creeps or assholes. 

_ he can’t read well, doesn’t know how smartphones work, is scared of big crowds… _ Akira mentally tallied up,  _ yeah, i think we should do baby steps. maybe leblanc would be a good place to go next time…? _

If there even was a next time. Goro might not want to come back after this.

A small tap to his foot drew his attention, and Akira looked up to see Ryuji pointedly tapping on his phone. Akira took his own out and checked his DMs. 

**_Ryuji:_ ** _ you werent kidding when you said he grew up in the metaverse! _

**_Ryuji:_ ** _ i feel like were giving a tour to an alien lol _

**_Me:_ ** _ I think he’s doing really well, considering.  _

**_Ryuji:_ ** _ well yeah i think so too  _

**_Ryuji:_ ** _ but obvs stuff hasnt translated properly between here and the metaverse _

**_Ryuji:_ ** _ yknow? _

Akira understood what Ryuji meant, and he nodded to himself with a small frown. He had hoped, considering how much the Metaverse mirrored real life, Goro wouldn’t have to adjust to too much - but there was a lot Akira had taken for granted. The most glaring one being the difference in population density between the two dimensions - of course the Metaverse was empty, and Shadows didn’t properly  _ count _ . Anyone would freak out if they suddenly found themselves sounded by a literal sea of people after going their whole life without.

He glanced over at Goro. He looked a lot less stressed now - Ann was, honest to god, a lifesaver. 

_ thank you, ann, _ Akira telepathically sent.

That should be the biggest hurdle now, though. All that was left was to go to the sushi restaurant, have a nice bonding meal, and send Goro on his way back home. Akira could collect on his side of the deal at a later date, after Goro decompressed or something. 

_ hopefully it’s smooth sailing from here, _ Akira mused, and hoped he didn’t jinx it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as you can tell, goro was so overwhelmed by being dumped feet first in the middle of a crowd he forgot to ask several important questions about this 'real world' upon arrival... 
> 
> but yeah, taking someone who's never spoken to more than two people at a time and isn't used to having so many people invade his (very large) personal space at once, and dropping them in a busy station square in tokyo would make anyone panic a little fhdhshs poor goro, ahh...

**Author's Note:**

> This is a birthday fic for Maha that just, gained a life of its own haha. I hope you enjoy this Maha, and I hope everyone else does too! I


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